LAYTON - Even though school’s out for the summer, movie magic was in session at one local elementary.

Director T.C. Christensen was filming scenes for his upcoming movie, currently titled “Cokeville Miracle,” at E.M. Whitesides Elementary in Layton last week. The movie, which is expected to be released sometime in 2015, is based on the 1986 Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis in Wyoming.

“A relative of mine came to the premiere of one of my movies several years ago and said ‘Have I got a story for you,’” said Christensen. “Finally I went up to Cokeville, started interviewing survivors and townspeople, and just got more and more hooked.”

David Young, a former police officer in Cokeville, entered the school the afternoon of May 16, 1986 with his wife Doris and a large bomb. They took 136 children and 18 adults hostage for over two hours, at which point Doris prematurely detonated the bomb. David then shot both himself and his wife, making the two the only deaths connected to the incident. Though 79 of the hostages were burned, they all survived.

The shooting location was an important part of the story, since the classroom used for filming needed to match the original Cokeville classroom in several key ways. The most important was that the windows in the classroom needed to open, since several of the original hostages escaped through the windows.

‘We looked and looked,” said Christensen, citing double doors and the location of a bathroom as also being important to the script. “Then I thought, ‘Hey, my old elementary school might work.”

Though Christensen has recently been best known for his pioneer movies, including “17 Miracles” and “Ephraim’s Rescue,” he said the transition to a relatively modern era was no problem. The story, however, did provide its own challenges.

“In my pioneer movies, my antagonist is the weather or the time of year,” said Christensen. “This one, though, has a real antagonist, and he’s a crazy, mean guy. One of the lines I’ve been trying to walk is that this could easily be an R rated movie. We need to really watch that and give him the feeling of being a bad guy without really showing it.”

Nathan Stevens, who appeared in “Punch-Drunk Love” and plays David Young in “Cokeville Miracle,” said that capturing that balance was odd for him as well.

“I like kids, so it’s a little strange making them cry instead of making them have a good day,” he said.

`The kids themselves, both those playing named characters and the ones brought on as extras, seemed to be in good spirits. Groups were brought in at key moments to fill out classroom scenes, and cast members ran through scenes multiple times guided by suggestions from Christensen.

“It’s fun to be in this movie,” said Kimball Stinger, who has been in movies such as “17 Miracles” and “Christmas Oranges.” Here, he plays a hostage named Jason Hartley.

“They don’t tell you what to do and just leave you there,” he continued. “They give you instructions on how to do it.”

Those instructions become just one part of the blur of activity on set, from Prop Master Bruce Wing adjusting the reading books in the students’ hands to Production Sound Mixer Steve Laneri identifying different sources of background noise and eliminating them.

“It doesn’t matter what aspect it is Р it’s like a Swiss watch with all these moving parts,” said Ron Hartley, the lead investigator on the case and the father of four children involved in the crisis. He, like other survivors, was on set for the filming.

“When we go to a movie, we just see the face of the watch,” he continued. “We have no idea what’s behind it.”

Captain James, You've made an incorrect assumption. The Cokeville survivors don't define themselves by this tragedy. And I don't know if there's a special place for those who profit from this film. But if there is, it'll be just above those that judge.

Besides, those that will profit most from this film will be those who watch it and whose faith in God is increased. And I think you're right--there will be a very special place for them in the afterlife.

I had family members in that classroom, so I very much understand what the children and their families went through during the standoff and afterward. Was it a miracle? I depends upon whom you ask. From a non-religious view, was it at the

very least fortunate? Most definitely. However, we must not lose sight that a number of children were badly burned. This was not an incident without its victims.

This “celebration” of the survival of the Cokeville Elementary School bombing (whether it be in the media; all the TV, books, etc. or personal, quiet reflection) raises some deeply significant questions. What, if anything, separated the children who were burned from those lucky students that were not injured? Did God and his

angels make those choices? Let me be clear; I know that everyone involved suffered something. Why did some suffer intense, physical and emotional pain

and others just the emotional pain of the event?

Was there some sort of lesson to be learned by these injured children? I guess the best way to answer this is that He “works in mysterious ways.”

Also, why must there be some sort of “show” (and in this case, another television production) that apparently there are those that are “chosen” to suffer – to even die in other school violence cases -- and those that aren’t. What is the real message here? How can someone from Cokeville (as well-meaning as I’m sure most are) make the claim to a parent from Sandy Hook, for example, that there is some sort of “good” that comes from just being lucky or blessed by surviving? What do you say to the parents of the dead? I don’t understand this logic.

I just get the impression that some people from Cokeville seem to define themselves by this event way too much. Was it amazing? Sure. But who hasn’t had a brush with death in some fashion? I almost drowned; but I don’t let that define me. Did it

affect me? Sure. But I don’t talk about it all the time; it’s very personal.

These people may say the same, but being in a TV show, where again someone somewhere is going to make MONEY off of this event, is not the way to do it. Everyone who has made money off of this event should be ashamed. If you have gained anything financially from the pain of others, then you are a hypocrite and there will be a place for you in the afterlife of which you believe.